Grown Up Too Fast
by Courageous Dreamer
Summary: AU Jerome had a lot on his shoulders, from trying to do well in school to having to provide for his family. One day when he was working he meets Mara Jaffary who is curious about the blonde and tries to show him that even though a lot is asked of him, he can ask for help and for once not have to be reminded that he had grown up too fast. Jara One-Shot


The clock was ticking away as Jerome tried desperately to finish copying the mess of notes the teacher had scribbled across the white board. That was the problem with his english class, the teacher Mr. Lincoln was extremely strict and if Jerome was going to bring up his average in order to pass, he had to use each second he could to get every ounce of information he needed.

Just as Jerome put his pencil down in success of writing the notes word for word, the bell rang loudly meaning school was over for the rest of the day. Once Mr. Lincoln dismissed the class, everyone scurried out of the classroom as if their lives depended on it. Jerome on the other hand took his time and once he put away his belongings he started to head for the door until Mr. Lincoln stopped him in his tracks.

"Jerome may I speak to you for a moment?"

"Yes sir..is something wrong?" Jerome responded nervously noticing the young teacher's tone.

"I've been looking over these past few assignments you've turned in and I'm concerned you're not going to be able to pass the midterm coming up..it's worth a _fourth _of your grade and if you don't receive at least a B I'm afraid you won't pass my class."

"I'll be sure to study as much as I can Mr. Lincoln, is there any extra work I could do to try and bring up my average?"

"I have these worksheets that relate to what's going to be on the midterm..if you bring them in by the end of next week that could help." explained Mr. Lincoln as he took out at least five papers and handed them to the blonde.

"Thank you sir."

"No problem Jerome, see you tomorrow."

Once Jerome left the school and made it to the single coffee shop in town just in time, he couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed but he knew very well it wasn't going to get any better anytime soon and quickly shook the thought aside as he rushed to put on his uniform so he could begin his shift.

"Hey dude, what took you so long?" Jerome's co-worker and good friend Eddie Sweet remarked as he finished the order he was given and gave it to the customer standing in front of him patiently.

"Got caught up at school again."

"Lincoln again..geez I'll never understand how we both come here from the same exact place yet I always beat you here."

"Shut up Sweetie.." muttered Jerome underneath his breath.

"Heard that Clarke, just for that I'm going to make you handle 'the Priss'." Eddie replied as he made air quotes around the last two words to leave his lips.

"Oh come on, I've had to deal with enough today you take her."

"Too late, here she comes.." Eddie told the blonde as he pointed out the blonde wearing a simple pink shirt with black skinny jeans and a thick gray fur jacket with pure white boots and a beanie to match who had her attention glued to her iPhone entering the coffee shop.

"How can I help you Amber?" Jerome asked plainly as she finally gave the blonde her attention.

"Geez great welcome Jerome..you think you could do better for your boss's _daughter_." Amber snapped with a glare.

"Sorry..how may I serve you Miss Millington?" replied Jerome as the girl gave him a look of satisfaction.

"Just a caramel latte will work for me."

"Coming right up."

Once Jerome prepared the drink and received the money she owed for it Jerome let out a small sigh of relief as he observed her leave the shop with a slight smile once she took her first sip of the drink.

"Nice going Jerry." admitted Eddie as he too finish an order.

"Thanks..let's hope today goes just as smooth."

Within the next three and a half hours the two teenagers had to have made at least thirty drinks and were doing pretty well, even with a few grumpy customers that would have gotten under Jerome's skin otherwise.

"A hour and then we are out of this joint." Eddie murmured to the blonde who was trying to fix the machine that made the whipped cream.

"If it was any longer I'd lose it..could you give me a hand with this Sweet?" responded Jerome who was starting to get frustrated.

"Yeah sorry." answered Eddie quickly since for the first time that night business had started to die down. "What is up with this thing?"

"Jammed.._again_."

"You would think after five times Mr. Millington would've noticed."

"You would think that wouldn't you?"

"Umm..hello?" a voice muttered as the two boys turned to see a girl with a tan completion and wavy black hair that laid just below her shoulders who wore a simple navy blue jumper that had a white heart across the front made from lace with light blue skinny jeans and navy blue converse.

"Give us just a minute and I'll get to you, sorry." Jerome replied quickly as Eddie finally fixed the jam in the machine and suddenly Jerome's face was sprayed with whipped cream causing the girl who was waiting to let out a small giggle. "Never mind."

"I see this job can have its moments.." she responded trying to contain her laughter as Jerome wiped the whipped cream away from his face.

"You could say that..what would you like?"

"Umm..I guess a hot chocolate?"

"Good choice, I have to say that's my favorite here." Jerome put in as Eddie started to prepare it for her. "I'm Jerome."

"Mara Jaffary."

"I've never seen you here before..do you usually come around later?"

"No actually I just moved into town today, thought since all my parents would be doing is unpacking I could see what's around here." explained Mara as Eddie handed her the steaming cup of hot chocolate. "Thanks."

"No problem.." Eddie started trying to think if he knew the girl's name but came up blank. "I'm sorry, what's your name I don't think I've seen you around before."

"Mara I'm a newbie around town, and you'd be?" she stated simply as she tried the drink and a smile spread across her lips at the taste of the chocolate bliss.

"Eddie."

"Nice to meet you guys." Mara replied as she paid Jerome and put a tip in the jar beside Eddie then moving to one of the nearby tables to enjoy her drink.

"I think you should go talk to her..she seems interested in you."

"I'm working Eddie I just can't drop what I'm doing and talk to her."

"Come on Jerry, business is slow the last hour of our shift if I need your help I'll ask okay?"

"Fine, just make sure Mr. Millington or Amber don't pop in out of nowhere." agreed Jerome hesitantly as he started to make his way to sit with Mara before he could talk himself out of it.

"Hey."

"Hi Jerome..aren't you supposed to be working?" Mara replied confusion in her voice.

"I'm just taking a break..no biggie." put in Jerome smoothly.

"Alright..so what's up?"

"I just wanted to see how you liked it around town so far."

"It's pretty nice, kind of like the town I used to live in but better." admitted Mara with a smile. "So how long have you been working here?"

"Almost a year, days can slow and drag on sometimes but it's a job right?"

"Yeah, then you get exciting days where whipped cream sprays in your face." Mara teased with a laugh causing Jerome to join in with her almost immediately. "Why did you decide to get a job here?"

"You get what you can get around here but it pays well, I came here a lot beforehand so I was familiar with it."

"Why not wait until you finish school to get a job?" asked Mara curiously.

"Well um, my family needed the money so.." responded Jerome surprised he was telling this to someone he just met. "My dad left my family a few years back..then my mum fell ill so she couldn't work and I had to step in."

"Oh, I'm sorry Jerome.." Mara responded immediately now regretting her question in fear of upsetting him.

"It's okay you didn't know."

"What school do you attend?" Mara questioned hoping to change the subject.

"Frobisher Academy..it's just a few miles away from here."

"That's the school my parents enrolled me into, how is it?"

"Pretty good actually, just hope you don't have Mr. Lincoln for english." Jerome joked then explaining how strict the teacher was.

"He sounds pretty tough..how are you doing in the class if you don't mind me asking?"

"Just barely making the grade honestly."

"Is there any way you could try and take off work until your grade improves?"

"Not a chance, I have to support my family with the money I earn here and if I miss one week everything gets screwed."

"You know I could try and help you once I become familiar with the material..if you have the chance of course." offered Mara.

"Actually, if you wouldn't mind waiting until my shift ends I have some material if you want to look over it."

"Sure, when does your shift end?"

"About a hour, do you mind waiting that long?"

"I don't mind at all..I may want another hot chocolate in that time anyway." replied Mara as Eddie called the blonde back to the counter in need of help with someone's order.

That next hour flew by faster than either teen expected and once the next two co-workers arrived for their shifts Eddie and Jerome were allowed to leave.

"See you tomorrow Jerry." remarked Eddie as he started to head to his car parked outside.

"See you then Sweetie." Jerome spoke back casually then catching Mara's attention saying he was going to get the material out of his car.

"Okay, got it."

"Alright let's get started." said Mara simply.

Then for the next hour and a half Jerome filled out each worksheet to his best ability and Mara reviewed over them and corrected what Jerome had done incorrectly once she understood the material. Jerome understood everything fairly well, but he could tell Mara was about to have enough since they had been doing this for so long and before he could even mention it himself she asked if they could a break just to clear their heads.

"I guess, but we should go over this one more time before we call it quits."

"Come on Jerome, I know just what we should do." Mara responded as she took the blonde's hand and he followed her outside the coffee shop.

"What are we going to do out-" Jerome started to question until Mara surprised him by slamming a snowball straight in his face. "Hey no fair!"

"You should have been paying attention."

"You asked for it.."

That's when all caution was thrown in the wind and Jerome and Mara started an insane snowball war that wasn't going to end until Mara was almost chilled to the bone due to her lacking a jacket in this kind of weather.

"I tried to warn you Mara..are you going to be alright?" wondered Jerome with concern as the two went back inside to bring heat back onto their skin. "I knew we should have come inside sooner.."

"Jerome, I'll be fine really." responded Mara softly trying to get the warmth back that she lost outside in the freezing snow.

"If you're sure.."

"I'm positive."

"Okay, now I just hope I'll be able to remember everything on those papers by the midterm.." mumbled Jerome to himself.

"I'm sure you'll do great you've improved since we started remember?"

"But that was just a hour Mara, I could easily space out by the time of that midterm then I won't be able to pass.."

"Jerome..calm down okay?" stated Mara as the blonde then started to get an expression of pure worry across his face. "You seem to forget that you can only do so much in a day..as long as you look back on the material each day before the test you'll be prepared."

"But I can't look over everything and juggle working at the same time." Jerome admitted with a sigh.

"Then I'll help you figure out when you get every chance to study..alright?"

"Okay..thanks Mara." Jerome replied with a sigh of slight relief at the thought.

"You're welcome..and you may have a lot on your plate but you can ask for help sometimes okay?"

"I know..just sometimes it doesn't feel that way, sometimes it seems that since I had to step up as the adult for my family..I have to be that way towards everything else."

"I'll be here whenever you may need me..all you have to do is ask." Mara assured him. "Would you mind driving me home..I walked over here and now it's getting too dark to walk back."

"I wouldn't mind..maybe we could see when we could do this again on the way?"

"Sounds good to me." Mara agreed with a smile as the two headed to Jerome's car glad that they would have the chance to see each other again.

**So that's all folks! :) This was just a one-shot that came to my mind and I thought why not? Don't be afraid to tell me what you thought, I hope you guys liked it though. :)**


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